Ontario 2017 Pre-Budget Consultation

February 8, 2017

On Tuesday, February 7, Ontario Campaign 2000 presented its recommendations at the Ontario 2017 pre-budget consultation held in Markham Ontario.

The 2017 Ontario budget is an important opportunity for the province to provide sufficient and sustainable funding to a variety of key areas to end poverty in the province. Child and family poverty continues to be a serious problem in Ontario. The latest tax filer data show 18.8% of children under the age of 18, and 20.4% of children under the age of 6 live in poverty in Ontario according to the Low Income Measure After Tax (LIM-AT). With the increasing costs of housing, child care, hydro, and other necessities, and the increasing precarity of employment in the province (with the growth of part-time, contract, temporary, and shift work with low wages and few or no benefits), effective policy changes coupled with sufficient and sustainable funding are needed to ensure no child and family in Ontario live in poverty.